Here I post about all things fantasy and give tips on writing a book based on my experience. My three main books form a trilogy called the Prophecy of the Kings, a Gold Award Winning book, and I've also written Drachar's Demons. Happy to chat so please feel free to comment on any of my blogs. Good reading - David

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Friday, 30 May 2014

My Favourite Fantasy Books

OK - time has moved on so here is my latest update - in a more sensible order of priority (I think). This is a list of my favourite fantasy authors and characters: Check out more reviews on https://www.goodreads.com/

1. J R R Tolkien. I especially liked the Silmarillion and the tale of Turin Turambar. I am on tenterhooks that there will be a film one day!! The problem is the Silmarillion is not for everyone. What an epic tale though, sweeping through generations of elves and men. Brilliant. A bitter sweet tale in many ways.

2. George Martin's Games of Thrones. Brilliant series, but where is it going and who will be left in it? Lots of good characters and Tyrion Lanister is definitely a favourite. What a great character. So cool and flippant under pressure. The TV series (I'm on the second series) is excellent, but already taking significant short cuts over the books!

3. Brent Weeks - Beyond the Shadows, my favourite character has to be Kylar. Very long books. Really good characterisation. Lightbringer is also an excellent series, although I've only read books 1 and 2 so far. Not as good as the first series in my opinion. Longer books again and lots of description. Very readable though and once again brilliant characterisation. Quite hard to follow in places but worth a read.

4. Michael Sullivan's Riyria series (Theft of Swords). I had given up reading books for enjoyment for a while and found that I was forcing myself to read. These books re-awoke the joy of reading a good book. Excellent characters. Hadrian and Royce are complete opposites but that is the part of the joy about the books, who can tame who?

5. Elle Casey's War of the Fae. A light-hearted romp with some every likeable characters. well worth a look and book 1 was FREE on Kindle. What's not to like? A modern day tale from a teens perspective but a very adult read.

6.Ian Irvine - Nish, a cracking character who first appears in The Geomancer, The Well of Echoes Novels. Ian has created several really good characters. A master of creation!

7. Terry Goodkind. The Sword of Truth series are cracking reads. No one character leaps out though. I liked the first few books but struggled with Soul of the Fire. It's worth reading up to that point and/or omitting that book.

8. Weiss and Hickmann - Raistlin is my favourite character and the Twins novels my favourite series. This is the original Dungeons and Dragons story for me. Time travel is dealt with brilliantly and is quite spooky in its way.

9. J K Rowling - Harry Potter books. Many really good characters! Luna Lovegrove has to be high on the list! Excellent books leading to a really good ending. Perhaps should be higher on my list? For a while I didn't consider this fantasy as it's a novel in its own right.

11. David Gemmell - Druss is my favourite character in the Legend of Druss. Well worth a read. Other books by this author are good but some less so. The Greek series was poor.

12. Joe Abercrombe - The Blade Itself and in particular Glokta. One of the best characters for a while. Very readable books but a little meandering with a long build up in the plot. Excellent for those that like politics in a fantasy novel. This is full of intrigue.

13. Michael Moorcock- He has written many good books, my favourite character were Elric, Hawkmoon and Corum. I really liked the Eternal Champion concept, bring several heroes together for one epic battle. Jerry Cornelious series based at the end of time is a good read as well.

14. Robin Hobb and the Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies were excellent. I found the Mad Ship series was very difficult to get into.

15 Stan Nicholls, Orcs. Quite a brutal tale. Takes a long time to get going but excellent read and teh dwarves are trully inspirational characters.

16. Raymond Feist and Magician and Talon of the Silver Hawk. I far preferred Magician and if all his novels were of this standard he would have been higher on my list. Magician is a seriously good read.

17. James Clemens - The Wit'ch Fire series. I need to reread this series. I don't remember much from it which may be a bad sign.

18. Robert Jordan- Wheel of Time series. Book 9 was a stinker. Nothing really happened and it was so bad I gave up on the series. I have since read book 11, having been persuaded to continue and again found much of the story to be too slow. Book 12 (by another author) is starting to look promising. this was a cracking series to start with and books 1-3 were really good. such a shame.

19. Christopher Paolini, Eragon, but I didn't enjoy later books as much.

2 comments:

I find it interesting that you list these by author. I'd have to do something else; my top six favorites are all by the most prolific author ever: Anonymous. They're three medieval bard's tales, a Japanese fairytale, a Scottish fairytale/folktale, and a Hawaiian legend. {SMILE, wink}

Actually, I'm going to have to look into some of these; they sound li ke they might be interesting. {Smile}

Legacy of the Eldric

Shadow of the Demon

David Burrows Bio

Hi all. I’m an avid reader of fantasy and count Tolkien, Irvine, Goodkind and
Rowling amongst my favourites. I am also keen on Saxon/Viking re-enactment
where I learned the brutal reality of fighting in a shield wall. I can tell you
it hurts and have cracked fingers and ribs on several occasions. That might
just be me being a clumsy fighter! Not sure - and I certainly hope that’s not
the case. :)

Writing has become my main hobby. I am a self published
author. This is not an easy route and I have come across many pitfalls along
the way. I’ve written a fantasy trilogy The Prophecy of the Kings, which
comprises Legacy of the Eldric, Dragon Rider and Shadow of the Demon - sample
chapters and reviews can be found on my website.That is the beauty of self publishing - I can
show you my work to let you decide if it’s for you. I have just written
Drachar’s Demons which I thoroughly enjoyed writing. I had help from Earmie, a
close friend - but living an ocean away. She has a terrific grasp of English
and helps me to fill in the gaps.

My work is getting some really excellent reviews. I think my books
will definitely appeal to core fantasy readers. In some reviews, Prophecy of
the Kings is being described as traditional fantasy. I guess that’s in a
similar vein to the Lord of the Rings. I’m not claiming it’s anywhere near as
good! I am a Tolkien fan through and through and he is definitely my
inspiration. Reviews are saying my work is different to his and the characters
and world I have created are unique to me.

The plot is complicated, but the books generally are
described as easy to read. Some reviewers want more in the way of character
development, although some reviewers really like my characters and are content
as is. I do enjoy hearing other people’s interpretations about my characters,
so not giving too much away is good sometimes.

Being self published, I rely on word of mouth, so if you
enjoyed my books please, please spread the word - on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter
or all of these! I need fans so join me and please spread the word.

My interest in fantasy started with Princess of Mars, The
Lord of the Rings. And probably Dune next! Motivated by LOTR I put pen to
paper, determined to create a story with bold characters and an intriguing
plot. The book's initial scene was a betrayal set deep in the heart of a
mountain. Encouraged by my friends, I started writing The Prophecy of the Kings
in the months during my wife’s pregnancy with the first of my two terrific
sons.

As with most aspiring authors, writing is part time, with
the plots progressing in the evenings and holidays. At times the PotK tale
seemed to naturally take the characters into extreme peril, and for months I
was left wondering as to their fate. Refusing to rewrite the tale to rescue
them I patiently waited before inspiration struck and the story continued at a
fast pace to the next cliff-hanger. Suffice to say my sons have now grown up
and, as the quill dries, are of an age to read and appreciate this work. As to
the characters in my tale, they too have grown older and wiser; as to whether
they survived the tale, only reading the novel will tell.